It has been a while since the last tklmap release, so I thought a general update on the state of the site was in order.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly 4 years since tklmap launched back in 2022. Since then, thousands of you have placed markers on the map and, hopefully, most of you have gained something of value from doing so. tklmap was originally born out of a frustration with existing methods for finding other people who enjoy tickling. For some, the challenge of finding someone to connect with can feel overwhelming, with the broader “tickling community” fragmented across numerous social media sites, each populated with their own comings and goings of people. None of these sites offer any tickling-specific functionality for searching or filtering according to your preferences.

tklmap was created with a singular goal in mind: provide an easily accessible, persistent space for tickling enthusiasts to make themselves known and find connection within their local tickling community and the wider world. Reading online about the connections you have made through tklmap, be it a first session, a newfound friendship or even the start of a relationship, is genuinely heart-warming and a reminder of why tklmap was created in the first place. Thank you to anyone who has shared such stories. In the early days of development, I thought “if just one person manages to find a meaningful connection through tklmap, then all the time and effort building the site will not have been in vain”. In that regard, I consider tklmap a success.

I know tklmap is not, and never will be, perfect. There are some niggling technical issues that have been around longer than I would like. Some users have been struggling to register accounts or reset passwords, marker reports are slow to get resolved, and over time the map has become cluttered with useless “dead” markers that have no valid contact methods. That's without touching upon even broader issues, such as the gender imbalance found in most niche kink communities. Apologies to any users who have felt frustrated with these (or other) issues.

The sad reality is that the tklmap “team” consists of 3 people: me, myself and I. Unfortunately the last few years have been filled with other pressing work/family/life commitments that have left scant time for any sort of focused development on the site. This latest release was prompted primarily by unsustainable hosting costs. I have consciously kept tklmap ad-free and free to use. Consequently, over the last few years tklmap has been operating at a significant loss, made worse following Google Maps API pricing changes which sent the monthly bill skyward and creeping ever-higher.

So what’s next for tklmap? I have no intention of shutting the site down anytime soon and I hope to be able to dedicate more time towards building upon tklmap in the months and years ahead. Future features that have been on the radar for some time include automatically pruning old markers from the map, an admin/moderation area to address marker reports and user queries more quickly, allowing users to add more details to markers (e.g tickling style/area/tool preferences, interests outside of tickling), and more marker types for advertising things like discord communities, clip stores and studios.

But, back to the immediate future, the hosting costs are the most pressing issue. Hopefully replacing Google Maps with MapBox will make a significant positive impact. The other part of this equation is, of course, user support. If you are an active user, or you just simply believe that tklmap offers something of value to the tickling community, please consider supporting the site! The best way to do so is through Patreon. Your support will be greatly appreciated.

Please report any critical issues with this release by emailing [email protected]. Beyond that, if you have anything to say about tklmap, good or bad, please get in touch. Thanks.

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tklmap v3.2.0 is now available. This release replaces Google Maps maps with MapBox maps, as well as a few minor overdue fixes. Read all about the changes in full below.

New Features

• MapBox Integration: The Google Maps map on the homepage, as well as static maps displayed in the user markers/favourites section, have been swapped out with a MapBox integration. Functionally these maps should work exactly the same, although there may be minor styling or control differences to what you are used to. Please email tklmapdev@gmail if you encounter any critical issues.

• Map Cleanup: As an effort towards clearing out dead markers on the map, any markers that weren't created or updated in the last 6 months have been hidden (if created by a registered user) or deleted. This will likely take place periodically moving forward, so keep your markers up to date if you don't want to get pruned. As always, please continue to report any markers you encounter that have no valid contact methods.

Minor Changes

• User Markers Button: Buttons in the User Markers section now display the marker name on the button rather than Marker 1, Marker 2, etc

Bugfixes

• FetLife Contact Method Fix: FetLife no longer identifies their users via a numerical ID, instead using a user nickname. The validation for the FetLife contact method has been updated accordingly. Existing FetLife contact methods that use the numerical ID should continue to work.

Known Issues

• Yahoo Email Account Signups: Yahoo email addresses cannot receive confirmation emails sent from tklmap, and consequently cannot create an account on the site. Steps have been taken to address this issue, however it appears to be persistent. Apologies to any Yahoo users who have attempted to create an account. For now, the only resolution is to sign up with a non-Yahoo email address.

• tklmap Subreddit Banned For reasons unknown, the tklmap subreddit has been banned. Given how inactive the subreddit was, I will not be fighting to reinstate it. If you want to get in touch and are reddit-inclined, u/tklmapdev remains active.

Please get in touch if you have any issues, comments or questions regarding the site. Thanks for using tklmap!